The University of Exeter Business School’s commitment to corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability has been rewarded with a nomination for the AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards 2025.

The prestigious awards, from accreditation body the Association of MBAs and the Business Graduates Association, celebrate visionary business schools, outstanding students, accomplished graduates and influential leaders.

The University of Exeter Business School is shortlisted in the category Best CSR and Sustainability Initiative 2025 for its Exeter MBA Global Sustainability Challenge (GSC).

The GSC is an international challenge between The Exeter MBA (UK), TIAS School for Business and Society (Netherlands) and the Gordon Institute of Business Science (South Africa) in which MBA students work with a global corporate partner to co-create sustainable solutions to real-world SDG issues.

This year the challenge was issued by engineering and sustainable development consultancy ARUP, and previous corporate partners have included Unilever and Schiphol International Airport.

Professor Donald Lancaster, Director of The Exeter MBA programme, said: “The GSC illustrates the central ESG focus of The Exeter MBA, the ethos that infuses everything we do, as we teach our students how to use sustainable and responsible business principles to become successful leaders.

“It allows students with vastly different contexts, cultural backgrounds and perspectives to work together on a project that enriches thought, innovation and outcomes as ESG strategising, networking, mind-expansion and corporate exposure are all enhanced. And the students love it!”

Professor David Boughey, Interim Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the University of Exeter Business School, said: “The Global Sustainability Challenge, developed by our incredible MBA team, allows students to learn the values of environmental sustainability while making a positive impact on a corporate partner in a practical and measurable way. It’s what creating leaders for a better world looks like in action, so I’m thoroughly pleased we have been shortlisted for this prestigious award.”  

The University of Exeter Business School is the top UK business school for integrating sustainability into its MBA programme, according to the Corporate Knights 2023 Better World ranking, an evaluation of over 200 MBA courses spanning 13 countries.